Instructions for better outcomes: the Sailer protocol
Prof. Dr. Dr. Hermann Sailer specified his guidelines for cleft surgeons
"The Sailer protocol is a series of rules prepared by myself in order to assure quality both during the training of doctors to become cleft specialists as well as in the performance of all cleft interventions."
The protocol specifies for example that children have to weigh at least 5 kg at the time of the operation, because poorer children are often underweight. The nasoalveolar moulding should commence during the first days of life: this is a kind of "drink plate" with an extension to support the disfigured nose.
Cleft lips should be closed at 6 months, palate clefts at 1 year of age. An important scientific paper about nasoalveolar moulding was published by Prof. Vikram Shetty and Prof. Sailer from the CCI centre in Mangalore. This method represents a break-through in the quality of results for cleft lips and palates.
The Sailer protocol also refers to the other 15 clefts of the face and specifies timing and type of operation. These anomalies include in part extreme and monstrous deformations. Prof. Sailer has given his students the ability to correct such defects through his decades of surgical training and know-how transfer.
Sailer-Protokoll as PDF…